THE Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MACB) has expressed concern over the National Union of Bank Employees’ (NUBE) recent plan to launch nationwide pickets to protest the “increasingly outrageous” ways bank CEOs commit union-busting.

Its executive director Looi Heong Meng said while the association respects the union’s right to advocate for its members, resorting to public demonstrations and social media campaigns during ongoing legal proceedings is unprofessional and counterproductive to resolving the alleged issues being raised.

“MCBA has demonstrated for years and remains committed to fostering a positive working environment for all employees and we firmly believe that our compensation and benefits packages for employees represented by NUBE have consistently been competitive and valued by staff,” he said in a statement on Monday (July 22).

“While we respect NUBE’s right to voice their concerns, we urge the union to engage in constructive dialogue and to refrain from actions that could disrupt harmony or inconvenience customers and the general public.

“We believe that open communication and mutual respect are essential for maintaining a harmonious workplace and achieving positive outcomes for all parties involved.”

In a statement yesterday (July 21) NUBE’s secretary-general J. Solomon said bank CEOs are denying their workers several rights including the right to work-life balance, job security, and freedom from bullying, discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment.

He said workers are also being denied the right to fair remuneration, participation in union work, freedom from union-busting, the freedom to attend training on paid leave and the right to have a 2% SST paid for workers’ family medical insurance.

Solomon further noted that certain bank CEOs have annual earnings that some NUBE members would only earn after working 1,000 years, stressing that such outrageous earnings do not place the CEOs in a caste above the working class.

“NUBE members may be earning less than the CEOs but equal human rights are for all, and we demand such equal human rights, not to be treated as slaves.

“These bank CEOs have been continuously transgressing established processes, procedures, norms and international labour conventions, in their interactions and negotiations with NUBE,” Solomon said without stating which banks he was referring to.

Solomon also reiterated that no citizen should be treated in such a slave-like manner, especially in their own country.

“We seek the support of our customers during the picket and trust that the customers understand that our fight to instil justice and respect for workers, who are the rakyat, is necessary,” he added. - July 22, 2024  

https://focusmalaysia.my/public-rallies-online-campaigns-amid-legal-proceedings-unprofessional-counterproductive-nube-told/